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FNNDSC Newsletter- January 30th

Updated: 14 hours ago


Stay warm out there! ❄️
Stay warm out there! ❄️

Upcoming Center-Wide Events


February Lecture Series Calendar:

Speaker: Ulrike Mietzsch, MD

Professor of Clinical Pediatrics

University of Washington School of Medicine, Co-Director NeuroNICU 

Title: "How patients tell us their stories - physiologic parameters as biomarkers in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy"

Date: Wednesday, February 4th, 10-11 AM

 

Speaker: Malte Hoffmann, PhD

Assistant Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital

Title: “BabySeg: multimodal brain segmentation across the first years of life”

Date: Wednesday, February 11th, 10-11 AM


If you are interested in suggesting a speaker for the FNNDSC Lecture Series, please use the form below to make your recommendation:

 

February Coffee Social:

Date: Wednesday, February 18th 10-11 AM, South Boston Conference Room

 

Upcoming Holidays:

Monday, February 2nd – Groundhog Day

Sunday, February 8th – Superbowl Sunday 🏈

Saturday, February 14th – Valentine’s Day 💕💕

Monday, February 16th – President’s Day (BCH Holiday)


Conferences & Workshops:

 

Recent Center News


Publications from our Team:

  • Bao R, Foster AN, Song Y, Vyas R, Kesri A, Toubal IE, Kazemi ES, Rahmon G, Kucukpinar T, Almansour M, Ho ML, Palaniappan K, Ninalga D, Koirala CP, Mohapatra S, Schlaug G, Wodzinski M, Muller H, Ellis DG, Aizenberg MR, Arda Aydin M, Abdinli E, Unal G, Tahmasebi N, Punithakumar K, Song T, Peng Y, Bates SV, Hirschtick R, Ellen Grant P, Ou Y. BONBID-HIE 2023: Lesion Segmentation Challenge in BOston Neonatal Brain Injury Data for Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. Read their work here


  • Ismayilova L, Fu L, Salayev K, Wang SH, Heidorn E. Pathways to child mental health: A structural equation model of economic deprivation, parenting, and internalizing problems. Read their work here


  •  Field TS, Morton SU, Brossard-Racine M, Cohen S, Feldman HH, Chung AW, Newburger JW, Puder R, Gurvitz M, Cassidy AR. Genetics and Brain Health in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease: A Consensus Statement From the ACHD/Neuro 2024 Conference. Read their work here


  •  Mondragon-Estrada E, Wang X, Uhler MD, Farooque A, Liu K, Mukherjee SK, Ekramullah SM, Arman DM, Islam J, Suchanda HS, Christiani DC, Warf BC, Mazumdar M, Morton SU. Folate Interaction With Genetic Risk for Neural Tube Defects Among Infants in Bangladesh. Read their work here


  •  Ahtam B, Knorr A, McLaughlin K, R Rogers-Vizena C, A Feldman H, Cole A, Grant PE, Lildharrie C, Zhang F, Rathi Y, J O'Donnell L, DeGrazia M. Microstructure of white matter fiber tracts in infants with positional plagiocephaly. Read their work here


Presentations & Awards from our team:


We are pleased to share that Dr. Georgios Ntolkeras, MD, (PI: Dr. Eleonora Tamilia, PhD) won the American Epilepsy Society (AES) 2025 Young Investigator Award! This award recognizes 20 young investigators conducting basic, translational, or clinical epilepsy research. His abstract, titled “Presurgical EEG Connectivity Predicts Seizure Outcomes After Corpus Callosotomy in Children with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy”, was selected from over 1,500 submissions for this honor. 



In addition, Georgios received the Child Neurology Society (CNS) 2025 Taeun Chang Outstanding Junior Member Award! This award recognizes academic excellence and contributions to the Child Neurology Society and was given by the scientific selection committee for his work titled, "EEG Network Analysis as a Prognostic Tool for Corpus Callosotomy in Pediatric Drug-Resistant Epilepsy”. https://www.childneurologysociety.org/calling/cns-awards/junior/)


Congratulations to Georgios on these prestigious honors!! 🎉


Congratulations to Dr. Harumy Yoshikawa, MD, (PI: Dr. Ivy Lin) who won the Best Oral Presentation Award at the 2026 American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology (ASPNR) Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida on January 17th! Her presentation awarded was titled, "Transcranial Doppler Parameters In Infant Hydrocephalus Treated With ETV/CPC". Nice work, Harumy!!


Full list of authors: Marcia H Yoshikawa, Marvin Seruwu, Rutvi Vyas, Davis Natukwatsa, Julia Tatz, Starlin Tindimwebwa, Collins Akugizibwe, Moses Wabukoma, Enock Kainja, Joshua Magombe, Isaac Emurang, Esther Nalule, Simeo Ochieng, Steven J Schiff, P Ellen Grant, Benjamin C Warf, Miriah Kemigisha Katugi, Edith Mbabazi Kabachelor, Jason Sutin, Pei-Yi Lin 
Full list of authors: Marcia H Yoshikawa, Marvin Seruwu, Rutvi Vyas, Davis Natukwatsa, Julia Tatz, Starlin Tindimwebwa, Collins Akugizibwe, Moses Wabukoma, Enock Kainja, Joshua Magombe, Isaac Emurang, Esther Nalule, Simeo Ochieng, Steven J Schiff, P Ellen Grant, Benjamin C Warf, Miriah Kemigisha Katugi, Edith Mbabazi Kabachelor, Jason Sutin, Pei-Yi Lin 

Congratulations to Dr. Rina Bao, PhD, on her promotion to Instructor!!🎉

Rina is a rising leader in medical AI for neonatal brain injury, combining deep technical expertise with a strong record of scholarly impact. We are thrilled to have Rina in the Center and are excited to see her continued leadership in advancing AI-driven approaches to neonatal brain health.🧠




Congratulations to Dr. Arafat Hussain, PhD on his promotion to Instructor!🎊

Arafat is an outstanding AI scientist whose work spans advanced medical image analysis, radiomics, and neurodevelopmental outcome prediction using MRI as well as genetic and modifiable risk factors. We are incredibly proud to have Arafat in the Center and look forward to his continued leadership and innovation in AI for neuroimaging.🚀

 

Studies Recruiting:

Dr. Borjan Gagoski and team are in search of participants for their study on Pediatric Edited MRS of the Brain. Please see details in the flyers below: 

 



 Center-Wide Reminders


 Funding Opportunities for Faculty and Fellows:


U.S. Immigration Resources:

Please check the Office of Immigration Services (OIS) page for regular updates and communication: Office of Immigration Services - Welcome!   

 


BCH IT Changes: Action Required

  • The way you sign into our VPN is changing; the Microsoft Authenticator app will replace Duo in 2026

  • You should have received instructions to set up Microsoft Authenticator on January 5

  • You must set up Microsoft Authenticator before June 1 to maintain access to VPN, Outlook, and Teams 


2026 Research Recruitment Week 2/24-2/26: Register via this link by January 30th



Patient/Family Stories and Publications Sharing:

The Department of Newborn Medicine wants to stay informed about the exciting and impactful research happening in the FNNDSC. As part of this effort, the team is working to feature patient stories and publications that highlight both research and its clinical impact.


If you have a project or publication that you feel would be a good fit for this effort, please fill out the Research Highlight Form or reach out to caroline.schutz@childrens.harvard.edu with the details.

 

FNNDSC Fun!

Let's make February about appreciating the people who make our Center better. Here’s your chance to spread some love around the team!



BCH Events & Involvement:


 Helpful Links:

 



Boston Events 🎆🎉🪩:

 

Way to Shine!🌟

Have you seen a teammate or colleague do something exceptional? Have they gone out of their way to exceed someone's expectations? Let them know that you noticed and that you care! To send a Way to Shine, please follow this link: Bravo! Way to Shine - Boston Children's Hospital (harvard.edu)

 

Brain Games 🧠 📝


HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE?

If you have something that you would like to see featured in the next newsletter, please contact Caroline Schutz caroline.schutz@childrens.harvard.edu

 
 
 

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